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Mountain Biking the 1996 UCI World Championship Course in Cairns

Yesterday I had an epic bike ride in the rain forests of Cairns. I had been referred to Dan's Mountain Bike Adventures by the Australian couple who I rode the day before my race. Dan was the mountain bike course designed for the Discovery Chanel Eco-Challenge Race (Australia) in 1997. Two of my friends decided they would join me for the ride. Dan picked us up around 9 AM and we drove for an hour. He fitted us for our bikes and gear and then we rode into Mulgrave Valley. The ride was unlike anything I had ever done. We rode into lush jungle and crossed many rivers and streams. It was beautiful single track with a few logs to jump. After about an hour of riding we ended at a river that had a swimming hole and rope swing. We spent the next 45 min playing the water and hoping that no crocodiles were looking for lunch. After the swim we rode back and had a meat pie lunch.

The second half of the day was spent on the 1996 UCI World Mountain Bike Championship Cross Country Course. The course had many technical sections and I had two crashes during the ride, but loved every minute of it. My friends and I were beaming for hours after finishing the ride. We could not stop talking about how amazing it was through dinner that night. Our other friends were wishing they had come on the ride instead of taking a train tour of the rain forest. I would love to spend more time mountain biking in Cairns but tomorrow we will head out for 3 days on a dive boat in the Great Barrier Reef. I'm looking forward to swimming with the sharks.